Later Life Poetry Competition showcases resident talent

ExtraCare are delighted to announce the winners of our Later Life Poetry Competition. Budding poets were asked to write a poem on the subject of later life that was no longer than 40 lines. The Charity received an incredible nearly 100 entries from residents across the 18 locations.

Poems ranged in theme from comical to poignant, all discussing the realities of later life.

Two entries took the joint top place earning some treats for the group who won and champagne and chocolates for the individual.

Mary Gilbertson from Lovat Fields Village earned joint first for her poem ‘My Memory Serves me Well’, Mary tied first with The Beautiful Minds group at Shenley Wood Village who created an acrostic poem titled ‘Days of our Lives’.

There were also honourable mentions for the poems placing second and third. Second place went to ‘The Joy of Growing Old’ by Alan While from St Oswald’s Village. And third place went to Jack Dinsdale from Lovat Fields for his offering ‘My Route to Later Life’.

All four of the poems can be found below!

Thank you to everybody who took part, the talent made it difficult for the panel to narrow down just the top four and the poems summed up the realities of later life.